Everyone's Dirty Little Secrets (20 page)

She knows this cop.  Local, fresh out of the academy.

He pulls her over sometimes, never gets
around to giving her a ticket -
sometimes when she’s done not
hing wrong.  She knows what he’s up to.  Probably happy just to get the cleavage shot, not man enough to own up to what he’s really doing.
 

In other words, he’s chum to a girl like Jaime.

She will eat him up and spit him out
.

And make an anniversary out of it.

So she’s ready when he flips his lights on and pulls her over, walks with schoolboy trepidation up to her car.

She’s ready for him by the time he arrives, and his wandering eyes
. 
“Do you need
anything, officer?” she asks, feigning innocence.

He stutters something, but she doesn’t give him a chance to get an intelligent syllable out.

She doesn’t have all day.

“License?” she asks.  “Registration?”

“No,” he finally stammers out.

“Something else?” she asks.

“Yes,” he practically gasps, before composing himself.

She arches an eyebrow at him.

“Um, Miss Tu,” he tries to start over.  He looks at her like he’s asking permission for something,
but is too afraid to just come out with it.

She invites him with a look.

“Look, um,” he starts.  “I’m supposed to be watching you.”

She
lifts her eyebrow even further, turns more toward him.

“Well
,
you do a good job of staring,” she chides him.

He
swallows.  “Look,” he gulps
.  “
I’m trying to help you. 
Mr. Dodge is in more trouble.  Something about girls in Amsterdam.  I don’t know much, though.”

Jaime
leans toward him
.  “What are you talking about?”

“Jaime,” he says, his voice stronger now.  “I really don’t know what’s going
on
- Mrs. Dodge, dead girls in Amsterdam, or any of it.  I’m telling you the truth about that.  But I know everyone thinks you’re mixed up in it.  And I got assigned to follow you.”

“Tell me everything you know,” she orders
.

H
e is putty to her at this point –
willing to break
all the rules to share this with her.

“Look,” he sighs.  “All I know is,
some serious stuff is going on, but I know that you wouldn’t be wrapped up in it.  I know you’re not like that, that you’re a good person.”

She smiles at him.

It is not a good person smile.

But he doesn’t know.

“What am I supposed to do?” she asks, allowing the slightest tremble to her voice.

It’s not fake.

She’s not afraid of him. 
But she’s afraid of what’s going on
, of what
she doesn’t know about.

He seems to plead
with
her with his eyes.  “Look, just stay away from Dodge.”

She just looks at him expectantly.

“He’
s in trouble, and you don’t want to be a part of it.”

“You got to help me,” she just spits out.  “If you find any more out, you have to let me know.”

He nods.

H
e kn
ows he is doing something wrong, but he’s willing to risk everything for her.

Which is perfect.

That’s Jaime’s kind of man.

*****

They agree to meet in a public place, C
huck letting her suggest the spot
to make sure she is comfortable.

When he walks in
to
C
heckpoint Chili’s,
he’s
a nervous wreck, suddenly not knowing what he
’s doing, or why he’s doing it.  He calms down pretty quickly, though, as he takes in his surroundings
.  This place is worse than a dive, it’s just a pit.  The walls look damp, and it feels like he’s in a basement even though it’s above ground.  A putrid odor of beer so stale it smells more like vomit mingles with the smell of actual puke, and urine, wafting out of the bathrooms.

Nobody picks this place for a rendezvous if they’re looking for romance.  Nobody would pick this place if they had hope for anything
.

Chuck wonder
s
what h
e’s gotten himself into, but isn’t exactly scared
though.  He’s seeking a woman who resembles Jaime, but he guesses pretty quickly he’s not going to find someone who looks like that here.

So she lied online.

So
did he.

The question is now only who is in for the bigger surprise.

The first surprise is Chuck’s.  Everybody here looks so down on their luck that he doesn’t think the girl from Craigslist is here at all.  Not that advertising yourself on Craigslist isn’t down on your luck.  But the people in this room don’t seem the type who would be able t
o get online and advertise anything, even if it’s themselves.

So when a woman whose hair is clean enough to know she’s a blonde walks in, Chuck knows it’s Melanie right away, even before he sees her glancing around for her date.

She’s no Jaime, of course. 

But this girl does have
pretty blonde hair.  She’s
heavier than Jaime.  Her Craigslist picture hides that well.
 

Her
face isn’t totally busted
.

Chuck tingles with excitement, waits for her eyes to land on him, to be sure.  She smiles when she sees him.  Bingo.

“Dodge
?” she asks, arriving at the booth he slouches in, hitting its padded vinyl before he answers.

A waitress, all orange-toothed and track-marked, arrives to take an order.

“Vodka and cranberry,” she order
s, looking at Chuck.  “Do you mind?  You’re buying, right?”

“Sure,” Chuck says, glad he still has Dodge’s credit card.

He hopes she’s not a prostitute, because he really doesn’t have any cash.

“Make it a double, then,” she sighs at the waitress, impatient, but taking the time to smile at Chuck as she pulls her long, straight, blonde hair back from her face.  “Wow, you’re cuter than a lot of
the
weirdoes
online. 
So you must be crazy or
have
something wrong with you.
”

“What
do you mean?” he asks, trying to sound
innocent.  Her comfort level pleases him, though - she’s been through this before.  He only needs to play along and see where it takes him.

“I don’t know,” she says, showing some exasperation.  “I date a lot of guys I meet online, but there’s usually a reason they can’t meet someone in person.  So if they’re not ugly, they’re weird.  It’s that simple.  You’re a decent looki
ng guy.  So I figure you’re mess
ed up.”

“What’s that make you, then?” he asks, summoning his inner Dodge to keep it cool.  She thinks he’s handsome, which gives him some confidence
, helps hi
m play out his fantasy of being
someone else.  That she’s someone else.  “You’re a pretty girl.”

S
he smiles.  “That’s sweet, Dodge
.”

She’s sincere. 

“You looked very lovely when I
saw your face online,” he tells her
, guessing she’s more used to a negative reaction when her blind dates meet her.

“Well, aren’t you a charmer?” she asks, warming up to him, even blushing a little.

He is actually charming her, he can tell, wondering how crazy the people she usually meets are if he qualifies as charming.
  She must be leading a lonely life.

He can help her end that tonight.

“So why
do you do this
?
  If you just meet crazies,
” he asks.

She laughs.  “
I don’t know, a girl can hope, can’t she
?”

“So
maybe we’re both just normal people after all,” he tells her with a smile, which she answers.
  “
So
what do you normally do on these blind dates
?”

She just grins at him again
.  “
Well,
I usually get laid, at least,” she tells him, giving him a coy laugh.  “
Weirdo
e
s can be pretty wild in the sack
.
  But I hope that, one of these times, it’
s actually somebody I want to be with
a second time.
  Sometimes I’m afraid I’m going to die alone.
”

“
What’s
wild in the sack
?” he asks her.